Suzette Martinez Standring: The Theology of Fear’

Friday

Aug 31, 2012 at 11:25 AMAug 31, 2012 at 11:25 AM

By Suzette Martinez Standring, GateHouse News Service

The Vatican rules the Roman Catholic Church through indoctrination, control and fear, rather than through nurturing love, service and freedom, according to Father Emmett Coyne, a Roman Catholic priest. His new book, “The Theology of Fear,” exposes how far the highest church authorities have strayed from the gospel of Jesus Christ (CreateSpace, $12.25, 325 pages, July 2012). The book is available on Amazon and on www.emmettcoyne.net.

“I’m on the last lap of life and eternity is facing me. It’s my last chance to speak up and speak out,” said Father Coyne, who was ordained in 1966 and is retired at age 73.

For 46 years, Father Coyne’s ministry has focused on serving those in need. He was a parish priest at several New Hampshire parishes, and later traveled to over 1,000 parishes nationally to raise awareness and money to help the poor. His conscience is disturbed at how the gospel of Jesus that teaches service on behalf of the least ones is subverted in favor of church power.

“Theology of Fear” is a well-written and easy-to-read history of the systems put into place that created the Roman Catholic Church as the only religious political entity in the world through the establishment of the Vatican City State. “I think the gospel is compromised when it is processed through a political consideration,” said Father Coyne who lives in Exeter, N.H.

He believes Catholics learn more about how to go to hell than how to get into heaven, and that, historically, the sacraments were established as a way to control church members through guilt and fear. “Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God. He didn’t proclaim the sacraments,” he said.

“Theology of Fear” further asserts that seminarians for the priesthood are ordained based on their ability to follow doctrine without question, while activist priests are viewed as risks to church authority. “They [seminarians] drop out when they discover they can’t think for themselves,” said Father Coyne, who once was chastised for adding the words, “Jesus, our good shepherd,” to a prayer.

What does this longtime priest hope to accomplish with his book “Theology of Fear”? The 50th anniversary of the Vatican Council will occur in October, and Father Coyne believes change, reform, and transparency of the church’s highest echelons are crucial. He wants everyday Catholics to rediscover Jesus’ teachings that it is the person who is absolute in God’s eyes, not an institution. Jesus emphasized the spirit of the law grounded in love, never the letter of the law based on punishment. Father Coyne expects church authorities will not be happy with his book. “One has to follow the truth wherever it takes him,” he said.

All proceeds of his book will be donated to nonprofit Partners In Health (www.PIH.org), which reflects Father Coyne’s ideal of an organization that serves the plight of the poor.